An exploratory study of perceived stress among students of selected State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) of Northern India
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Date
2018
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
The study was conducted to explore the extent of perceived stress among undergraduate and
postgraduate students of four State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) namely Govind Ballabh
Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar (Uttarakhand), CCS Haryana
Agricultural University, Hisar (Haryana), Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and
Technology, Udaipur (Rajasthan) and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Punjab).
Stratified Random Sampling technique was used to select a sample of 540 students consisting
of 360 undergraduate and 180 postgraduate students of three colleges i.e. College of
Agriculture, College of Home Science and College of Agricultural Engineering of selected
universities. The data were collected through distributed questionnaire technique. A stress
perception scale was developed to know the extent of perceived stress among students. The
findings of the study revealed that percentage of the postgraduate students was towards higher
side of the stress as compared to undergraduate students. A significant difference was also
observed between undergraduate and postgraduate students in regard to their extent of
perceived stress. A small percentage of the students had high academic performance while a
majority had medium level of academic performance. Placements problems and high
expectations of the parents were major sources of perceived stress in undergraduate as well as
postgraduate students. Place of accommodation, parent’s education and father’s occupation
were found to be significantly associated with extent of perceived stress of both
undergraduate and postgraduate students while award of scholarship, family background,
family type and order of birth had significant association with extent of perceived stress in
postgraduate students. A positive and significant relationship was observed between family
income and extent of perceived stress. Listening to music, seeking out friends for
conversation, trying to come up with different possible solutions and looking on the bright
side of the things were major stress coping strategies used by students. Alcohol consumption,
smoking, drug use, meditation and yoga were the least used coping strategies in both
undergraduate and postgraduate students. Most of the students were using positive and
healthy stress coping strategies to release stress. Students should be motivated to improve
their academic performance. Postgraduate students should be counselled to minimize their
stress. Awareness about different job opportunities after degree programme should be created
among students. There is a need to strengthen counselling cell of the state agricultural
universities. Parents should have realistic expectations from their children and they should try
to understand their needs and capabilities. Higher earning families should spend quality time
with their wards so that their children may not feel ignored and stressed.
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